In purchasing apparel products such as dresses and suits in an apparel retail store and the like, it is usual that customers actually try them on. In a retail store such as a boutique or in a specialty shop in a department store or the like, a fitting room is installed, and is used when a customer tries clothes on to see whether the clothes fits his or her size, is comfortable to wear, or becomes him or her. While the customer is trying the clothes on, the entrance of the fitting room is closed with a curtain or the like to protect privacy.
FIG. 21 shows an external view of a typical fitting room 1 commonly used today. A customer who wants to try clothes on enters the fitting room 1 through an entrance 2. Usually, a mirror 3 for the customer to view himself or herself while trying clothes on is hung on a wall on the side opposite from the entrance 2. Since the trying on of clothes involves changing clothes, the entrance 2 is closed with a curtain 4 to protect privacy. The curtain 4 is suspended from a curtain rail 5 fixed to the ceiling, and is moved by being guided along the curtain rail 5. The curtain rail 5 is attached extending in a straight line from the position directly above the entrance 2 toward both ends thereof. The curtain 4 is drawn out along the curtain rail 5 to close over the entrance 2, and is folded up onto one side of the entrance 2 when opening the entrance 2. The construction for opening and closing the entrance 2 by drawing the curtain 4 as described above is not only used for the fitting room 1 in a retail shop or the like, but also used widely for dressing rooms where privacy must be protected in a simple manner during the changing of clothes, etc.
In the fitting room 1 which is opened and closed by drawing the curtain 4 as shown in FIG. 21, the curtain 4 has the function of protecting privacy by hiding the interior of the fitting room 1 from view from the outside. The space that can be secured inside the fitting room 1 when the curtain 4 is closed is substantially the same as the space that the fitting room 1 occupies when the entrance 2 is left open with the curtain 4 opened. If the fitting room 1 were also used, for example, as a storeroom for storing merchandise, it would inconvenience customers when trying clothes on; therefore, the space must be secured as a dedicated space. However, since the trying on of clothes is not done at all times, when the fitting room 1 is not in use the space secured for the fitting room 1 is not effectively utilized. If the space occupied by the fitting room 1 is reduced, the space not effectively utilized when the fitting room 1 is not in use can be reduced, but this compromises the usability of the fitting room 1 because the space for changing clothes is reduced. Furthermore, when the space is reduced, the customer can only look into the mirror 3 from a very close distance, making it difficult to view, for example, the full length or the upper part of his or her body comfortably, even if the mirror 3 itself is large enough. One possible way to reduce the space of the fitting room 1 without compromising the usability as a clothing changing space is to enlarge the interior space when the fitting room 1 is used for its intended purpose.
A prior art technique for enlarging space within a building is disclosed, for example, in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication JP-A 63-280166 (1988). This prior art concerns a retractable membrane roof structure generally known as a “dome” and applicable to an all-weather athletic stadium or event hall; in this structure, both ends of an arc-shaped unit roof structural frame are guided on two parallel rails installed along the periphery of the opening of an open top structure and the opening is closed with the upwardly domed membrane. Such a structure can extend the space upward, but cannot be used to enlarge a clothing changing space usable in a dressing room such as the fitting room 1.
An object of the invention is to provide a dressing room and a curtain suspension apparatus that can enlarge the available space when in use while reducing the occupied space when not in use.